Artemis II mysterious burning smell

[Full Otto]

Astronauts on board Artemis II reported a mysterious burning smell coming from the $23 million advanced toilet system which previously malfunctioned after takeoff.

https://nypost.com/2026/04/04/us-news/artemis-ii-astronauts-report-burning-smell-from-malfunctioning-23m-toilet/

I can relate but at least I can crack open a window for some fresh air

[rto]

Holy shit! $23 million toilet . . . . talk about a throne!

[mrkalashnikov]

Black guy is probably putting his burnt reefers down the commode.

[ColonelKorn]

I was going to mention the elephant in the room

[Sanders]

The Kanadian probably had the beer shits and overloaded it. Which begs the question, why is there a Kanadian on the crew? Weren't there any American astronauts who wanted to go to the Moon?

[GimpyPaw]

Did the toilets from the Apollo missions not work? How about the ones on the International Space Station? That's been up there for about 20 years and I can't remember any news stories about the shitter being broken. Hell, the Artemis mission isn't any longer than some of the Space Shuttle flights, so what was impractical about using the same system as those on the Shuttle?

It seems like we have proven designs that are known and even in use. How did NASA manage to screw this up?

[Full Otto]

For that matter why are we even bothering with this type of flight again
At least we're doing something but this seems like a giant step backwards

[aviator]

Toilets are a strange artifact in space. they must suck up solids and burn them, have you ever smelled burnt beans?...now you know what one of them had for dinner before take off.

[GimpyPaw]

I know this isn’t Greenpeace approved but why don’t they just eject the waste out a little turd sized airlock? It would eventually drift back towards Earth and burn up in the atmosphere anyway, and no stench in the capsule.

[Bluntforce]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbw5KX9TaXY&pp=ygUNSSBzbWVsbCBzaHl0ZQ%3D%3D&ra=m

[aviator]

I know this isn’t Greenpeace approved but why don’t they just eject the waste out a little turd sized airlock? It would eventually drift back towards Earth and burn up in the atmosphere anyway, and no stench in the capsule.

It would freeze and just sit around the capsule for the duration of the flight, could do some damage to something.

[GimpyPaw]

It would freeze and just sit around the capsule for the duration of the flight, could do some damage to something.

I mean send it off with a bit of pressurized air. Wouldn’t take much, just enough to give it a small measure of velocity. Then it would drift away from the capsule, while maintaining a similar forward path. Eventually it would be captured by a gravitational pull from either the Earth or the Moon.

If it lands on the moon we could call it our first step towards terraforming!

[Full Otto]

You talking about a shart?

[GimpyPaw]

Yea, a shart launcher! Poop into Turdpedo tube 1, request permission to launch, and yell “Turds away!”

[GARANDNUT]

I think they shit in bags during the Apollo missions. The problem with zero G is the shit is going to just slide out and float away and can you imagine explosive diarrhea in space!

Now I have no idea how a space crapper works but without gravity there has to be some type of vacuum system. They probably had to do this because there is woman on the flight and "equal to men" probably does not include dropping your panties and shitting in a bag in front of men. The expense does not surprise me either. Everything in aerospace is expensive. If a simple hinge in a GA airplane can cost $1000 a super sucker space crapper has got to be crazy expensive especially when a contractor like Boeing or Raytheon makes it.

So I looked it up and a "Clean Flush" FAA approved flushing toilette on ebay its listed at $2000! This is the kind of john you would see in a small private jet. I bet new ones are $10K.

[4thIDvet]

Full Otto you mentioned a bit of why go back to the moon? Well they sure don't want more pictures from the moon nor are they looking for the 'old man in the moon.' One thing they want 'Rare earth MINERALS'. The moon mars etc. are loaded with important minerals. A short time ago new car sales and our new computers sales were tied up because of some damn mineral they needed.
Certain countries hold high amounts of what is needed for manufacture and the race is on to get out in space and get it. We just happen to have the technology to get out their and maybe bring it home here?

The most important minerals for electric vehicles (EVs) are lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, manganese, and rare earth elements. These materials are essential for high-capacity batteries and electric motors, with lithium providing energy storage, and cobalt/nickel boosting battery density and durability. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

A guide to the 4 minerals shaping the world’s energy future

A guide to the 4 minerals shaping the world's energy future | Grist

[Full Otto]

Not so much "why" as "how"
It's good to see tNASA getting back on track but would be nice to see a little more advanced vehicles by this time
I guess we all know who to thank

[4thIDvet]

I think they shit in bags during the Apollo missions. The problem with zero G is the shit is going to just slide out and float away and can you imagine explosive diarrhea in space!

Now I have no idea how a space crapper works but without gravity there has to be some type of vacuum system. They probably had to do this because there is woman on the flight and "equal to men" probably does not include dropping your panties and shitting in a bag in front of men. The expense does not surprise me either. Everything in aerospace is expensive. If a simple hinge in a GA airplane can cost $1000 a super sucker space crapper has got to be crazy expensive especially when a contractor like Boeing or Raytheon makes it.

So I looked it up and a "Clean Flush" FAA approved flushing toilette on ebay its listed at $2000! This is the kind of john you would see in a small private jet. I bet new ones are $10K.

I think? our U.S. submarines have a vacuum type toilet system? Think they were on them back to WWII? So they probably could have just used one of them. But? Now if it does not cost $10 million like your saying they would not want it. Plus every frigging thing govt. purchased entails kick backs $$ so that increases costs.
I could tell horror stories of V.A. purchase kickbacks but taxpayers would get stomach sick. Story for another day.